Tennessee man charged with attempting to smuggle 22 people in tractor-trailer

A Tennessee man who flew to Houston before driving to Pharr after taking a job from an unknown man on Craigslist as a commercial driver was arrested last Thursday after Border Patrol found 22 people in the country hidden in a tractor-trailer.

Border Patrol agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint encountered Josef Alquan Rutley at approximately 11:30 a.m. when he entered the primary inspection lane, according to a criminal complaint.

During an inspection, a Border Patrol agent noticed he was rarely making eye contact and appeared nervous and anxious.

Rutley told the agent he was hauling an empty trailer to Laredo and when asked if he was picking up a load, Rutley claimed he was going to look for a load, which the agent found suspicious because truckers always know where their next load will be, according to the complaint.

The agent then referred Rutley’s vehicle for an X-ray scan, which revealed anomalies in the trailer.

When agents opened the trailer doors, they found 22 people hidden inside.

During an interview, Rutley said he first started communicating with the man who said he had a trucking company on Dec. 14.

“Rutley stated he transported a load of tomatoes for the trucking company in the company tractor trailer destined for Pharr … (last) Wednesday,” the complaint stated. “Rutley stated the warehouse had issues which delayed the delivery of tomatoes until Thursday.”

The man told investigators he drove to the Flying J’s truck stop and took an Uber to a La Quinta Hotel.

He later returned to the truck stop, did not perform a vehicle pre-check and left the truck stop at approximately 10 p.m.

Rutley later told Homeland Security Investigations special agents that he actually met a man through a friend who offered him $15,000 to transport a load from McAllen. He admitted that the man did not specify what type of load and he figured it was illegal due to the payment amount, according to the complaint.

When Rutley arrived in the Valley, he later stated that because of the people who he encountered upon arrival and because of how they were operating, he realized he would be transporting people in the country illegally, according to the complaint.

Rutley was scheduled to make an appearance Monday in Corpus Christi federal court in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason B. Libby.

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